Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles WELL.... ANY bad/terrible M 70s - Pre/Post/XTR/Classic ?

I will NOT credit the author of the following post. I'll just say that one of our GOOD guys said,


"Interestingly enough, I have only owned 3 M70's - one being the biggest cluster#$*! I've ever experienced with any rifle."



The OTHER thread about Any Bad 700s generated this ?

I for one have NOT had a bad M 70...>>> but I've only owned 1 M 670 in 243, 1 Post 64 in 243, 2 XTRs in 270 W & 6.5X55, & 1 M 70 Black Shadow in 300 WM. All of those shot AS WELL as I could WHEN I had them or those I have NOW. **** That's ALL that my FMD (fading memory disorder) will pull up.

I'm NEITHER a 70 lover nor hater PERIOD.

How About Anyone ?


Jerry

Good question J.....I have owned way more Remington rifles than any other brand but lately I have grown very fond of CRF actions so I have been buying a few Model 70's and Playing " Kimber roulette" ....So far (knock on wood) I have been lucky with the Winchesters, fit, finish and function have been flawless, I have noticed these rifles seem to be more picky about what ammo they like to shoot well than many other brands I have owned....BUT I do love the CRF actions and dont see me buying another action type for a while..... A Montana CRF action Is next on the list......Hb

One pushfeed ranger 308 with a plastic follower was a pos. Didn't feed very well.

I'd hang my hat on Winchester M70 reliability before just about anything else......I think Carlos Hathcock did too.....


And if Redneck chimes in and says otherwise, I'll take that as the gospel.

Had one LH Model 70 .270 that wouldn't shoot. It was rebarreled with a Pac-Nor barrel and it still wouldn't shoot worth a dang. Three different people shot it with the same results.

That's the only "bad" one. The smoothness of the bolt travel is hit or miss on the 10 or so I've owned. Some were/are smooth as silk and some that would bind a little to a lot if you accidentally put any sideways pressure on them while closing, but other than that occasional problem they've all been pretty good rifles.

No. Out of maybe 10 plus a few. Some shot better than others, some were re-barreled for something different. They all shot acceptable and some really good. Over 50 plus years all but one functioned as they should. That one had a safety pin decide to escape and the safety would not go on or off.

All the bolts are still on, none have fired inadvertently when the safety was released. Which if one can believe the 700 thread, it is more common than I would have expected. But I have learned not to believe a lot of what I read here.

While Winchester and now Browning/Winchester have continually upgraded the quality of the Model 70, Remington seems to have quality standards not up to their past history. Given a choice, more so today than ever I would pick the big W.

Addition: "I found a Rem 700 in .270W." "OK." yawn

"Hey, I found a Pre 64 Model 70 in .270W, .30-06, etc, etc." "Good on you, post up some pics!!!!"

This is the rifle version of the Kavanaugh witch hunt... But to answer; bought one of the first POST-64s back in the mid-60s. Horrible finish, looked like hell and that is what turned me onto the pre-64s. Suffice to say I wouldn't own a 700 on a dare...

Just one that I bought used and that was returned to Browning after 20 years to have the issue fixed. The bolt shroud was not indexed correctly on the bolt. Evidently the previous owner(S) never noticed it . Browning fixed it free

I've owned a couple of dozen Model 70's including pre-War, pre-64, New Haven, Portugal, and South Carolina. All cycled properly. Any accuracy issues were my fault. I have never owned a push-feed Model 70, but I've put a few hundred rounds through one in 300 WM that belongs to my brother-in-law. No problems with it.

One South Carolina FWT in 30-06 failed to ignite about 1% of the primers in Greek surplus ammo purchased through the CMP because something in the MOA trigger was dragging on the striker. A quick adjustment fixed it.

I want to go on record as saying that the MOA trigger pisses me off. I do NOT buy Model 70's so I can turn around and buy Timney triggers for them. I have Mausers for that, and at half the price.


Okie John

Back in the late 90s or early 2000s I bought 2 stainless synthetic crf m70s. One in 30.06 and the other in 300wsm. The wsm was top shelf in every way. However, the 06 was a train wreck. Barrel layed to the left side of the stock and nothing I did could get it centered. Finally took it to a gunsmith who discovered the barrel had been cross threaded into the action. Eventually both were sold. Since then I've bought a super grade and an ew. They are both fine rifles which I'll give to my grandsons in a few years.

I have a 1972 70 in 270. I know its a gay rifle. and a 1985 mod 70 feather weight in 223. both pretty good shooters.

REDUX.

I'm NOT physhing ! We have had multiple threads on 700 Failures. I'm only CURIOUS about 70 Failures.

I AM a Ford truck guy ! Since 1975 - I've had 3 Ford trucks and I've had EXCELLENT service from each of them.
1975 -> Model 1970 F100 ,,,,,,,,,lots of miles.

1984 -> Model 1978 F 150........lots of miles.

1993 -> Model 1991 F 150........lots of miles - STILL have it.

ATST - There are some Models and some individual F trucks that have had trouble.

******IMO there is NOT ONE man made product that is perfect and/or has had not malfunctions or recalls.
<<<< In 1988 I swore off Chrysler, Dodge, products due to FailureS of their product AND their REFUSAL to stand behind it.
After Chrysler bought out Jeep >>>>> No Jeeps for me either (Chrysler bought them)
*********Now - FIAT owns Chrysler Dodge Jeep *********** Ain't have one either.



OTOH - we can fall out of favor when we QUESTION the Sacred Cow !


Jeerry

I've had M70s since 1972... Over the years, probably 80+ or more... Only ONE I sent off to someone else (traded it).. M70 SS/walnut FWT Classic in 22-250.. Had the wrong twist from the factory and would only shoot well with 50 gr boolits or less... That was before I was in this biz, or I would have kept it, rebarreled and enjoyed it..

The rest have been excellent..

As to the M700 thread - only have had 3 in my lifetime.. Two are fine (but I REALLY, REALLY pay attention to those triggers) and the 3rd I've never shot yet..

Out of 6 or 7 I had one. An early Classic Sporter in 7mm Mag. Bolt face had a texture on it, not a smooth finish, which it transferred to the case head. It also had excessive head space from the factory. ALL factory ammo and mild handloads showed flattened primers. I wasn't as knowledgeable then and a friend explained that in the milliseconds of ignition time the primer was backing part way out then the case was slamming back down on the bolt face, flattening the primer. Could have and probably should have sent it back but an acquaintance that built most of his rifles offered to trade me a beautiful 7x57 sporterized 1895 Chilean Mauser for it so he could build some wildcat magnum on the 70. Eventually sold that 7x57 to another acquaintance that was a 7x57 nut.

I've had more Remington than Winchester, and like i said before only one bad Remington trigger. I've sent one Ruger back to be repaired. I've never had a problem with Winchester model 70.

I had the splines on the steering linkage strip out on a 74 Ford F100 4x4 while going around a curve on a bridge in fairly heavy traffic. It was pretty hairy, but I was able to navigate to the next exit and guide it off the road into a safe place to park it. C-bushings failed next.
Cool truck though. Had the factory 4” lift and oil bath air filter. I stuck an add-a-leaf on the back and that thing hauled a lot of firewood

72 F100 Ranger motor went. It was a 360. Had it rebuilt but never very powerful. Sporty looking 2-tone short bed with factort underdash air and aftermarket underdash Supertuner with 8-track, wagon wheels with white letter tires and a snap on bed tarp.

69 F100 390 motor went.

80-something 7.3 high pressure oil pump that drove the injectors failed.

All of them had a loose feel to the steering that I never grew to appreciate.

Never had a 70, but my new to me Mark II with the similar mauser style has an action that slick’r’n snot.
Old 98 8mm was similarly seeet

I’ve had pre 64’s. They were all Fine rifles

In 2002 I bought a Model 70 stainless synthetic 338 WM. Best I could get was patterns, not group, I tried commercial ammo because the dealer said he thought it was my hand loads, no improvement. I replaced the stock thinking the plastic was the problems.
I finally took it to a gunsmith. I feel stupid for not finding the first thing he noticed, the bolt was unfinished, the bolt face still had the casting surface, as in never machined.
The reason I didn't return it to Winchester was that I had some health problems in 'early '03 and by the time I was thinking about shooting again a number of months had gone by.
I'll skip the other problems but by the time it was made into a shooter the only original unmodified parts left were the Mag box, follower, and the body of the action. For sure I'll never own another Winchester.

Multiple XTRs between my dad, brother, and I. They all shoot very well. The p64s are as reliable for us.

I've had three push-feeds (.223 Ranger, a .22/250 Heavy Varmint and a 7x57 FWT) and three CRFs (two .270s and a .30/06). Only the .223 was a "fair" shooter, the others were REALLY good. I still have one of the .270s, I just can't warm up to the FWT stocks, they don't fit me for squat.
The .223 went away fairly quickly, it just didn't do the job. I should have kept that .30/06(Classic SM), it was remarkably good, like this .270 (Classic SM) I'm shooting now. The .270 FWT was nice, and fed so smoothly you had to watch it feed to know it was loaded, you couldn't feel anything pushing that bolt forward. I just couldn't make the stock work for me.
The Ranger (.223) had a FWT contour barrel on it, a slow twist (1-12) and it didn't like some of the bullets I wanted to shoot (pointy plastic-tipped VMaxes, the newest thing!), and I was planning a PD trip, so away it went..